Lessons of an entrepreneur, educator & executive

I tried something new for marketing my business last week; it does seem like I am always trying new things with promotion and marketing and most of them have been helpful and fun – some things are questionable in terms of impact, though. I wanted to share with my blog what I have going on and how/why it works or does not work.

My overview on some “new” avenues for promoting my business:PodcastsMy radio interview with AuthorUniverse was so much fun that I decided to create a podcast. This can be fun but I think I will limit it to once every few weeks. I can use this medium to share my highlights of my blogging for the week or some other new lesson or trick I want to share with listeners. If I make a bunch of them, I can share them on IHeartRadio app. I am using REC Studio app and it comes with many bells and whistles in terms of adding in sound effects and tons of other stuff I have yet to even try. Apparently there is a “chat” function you can use while recording live that I would love to check out – maybe I can host a “chat” in show helping people with questions for their next steps – such as interviewing questions, resume questions and more. I think this would be so cool to do.I do not yet know impacts on this type of promotion; I did get one follower to my “channel” after releasing my first podcast. I have to look into the app more to see if there are “listening stats”.

TeleseminarsI need to continue to look into teleseminars; this is something that was recommended to me by someone I look up to who is in a similar type of business and it is something I need to consider for maybe my summer months. I am balancing many things with this business such as my “side gigs” of teaching 3 days a week for College of Staten Island, subbing at local area schools and raising two young children. I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post the upcoming Spring Break and this will make my “time” much more limited as I need to arrange some fun stuff for the kids to do while off from school while still focusing on my business and teaching, too. So, teleseminars definitely have to wait a few more weeks until I launch it but this is key to how I brand and position my company as I want to be the resource for skills-based learning and focus on sharing my teaching skills with many through a teleseminar would be a great way to continue to raise my profile. What do you think?

NewslettersConstant Contact is what I have used to create some newsletters but I have decided this should be a monthly thing and not a weekly thing. I add and create so much content weekly that I want to be able to curate it and use the newsletter to “reward” those who took the trouble to sign up with my website with unique and different content. I want to make this newsletter interesting and lively with different content and information that is currently on my website. I need to look into how to “host” hidden content via my site. Or perhaps just putting up some unique video content that is only available via link using YouTube.

SnapchatLately, I feel like I am hearing a lot about Snapchat and how powerful it can be for marketing your business. I am on the fence about it primarily due to time constraints. I am using already Twitter, Instagram and my Blog for promotion in addition the newsletters and podcasting – do I really need something else? It will get to a point where I will hire someone to help me manage my social media so maybe then? And who is interested in working with me? I will be representing my company at an upcoming career fair as someone who would like to expand with an intern for the beginning and then eventually full time positions, maybe. It is all up in the air and contingent on how I continue to grow and promote my business.

My Plan for Growth As an entrepreneur, I am considering my own plan for growth. This step is a very big part of my Entrepreneurship: Build Your Own Business certificate course with Wagner College Department for Lifelong Learning and it is also a big part of my upcoming new book Entrepreneur-ING The Prof’s Guide to Going from Zero to Launch which I am working on in my “free” time.

I do think I will be diversifying myself into an education based provider for careers such as the classes and seminars I lead with my partner Wagner College Department for Lifelong Learning and also the classes and lessons I roll out on my own or with other universities, whether they be through online course for credit or other potential models.My business plan is a work in progress primarily because I feel like I can add so much to it but then I remember that for now I am a solopreneur and need to prioritize what pieces of business I reach for and how I reach for it.

My current focus is on building out my content and creating some learning opportunities to share with my followers, my clients and more. What do you think about my business plan and promotional plan? Let me know in the comments or via social media! Happy Hunting!

This week's plan is fluid. I have been busy the last few weeks with meetings and more, which means I have not had much time to write. I plan on using some "free" time this week to write my books and the blog posts. I considered cutting back on the daily posting schedule and changing to a weekly posting schedule or perhaps 2-3 days a week and not 5.

Although of all the things I do, my blog posts do not take the most time. I find that once I set up my week's content ideas, the blog just flows on its own. I have my trusty project management based book that I use for my meetings and my daily to-do list. I wind up changing things around on the fly, though. As much as I stand by my lists, the priorities change daily.

For this weekend, my priority was to rest and it allowed me to recharge and re-prioritize my schedule.

I have found that in running my business, I spend a lot of time building content. With all of this content came the new pages on this site highlighting my ability to create of curriculum and the launch of online courses in addition to the work I am doing with Wagner College Department for Lifelong Learning. I also use Instaquote to build up my Instagram and to create more followings and to find people who are interested in my company whether just to follow my story or to become a client of mine.

I have various streams for income with my services I offer around brand creation and now the template guides on resumes and LinkedIn. I have my published books that are out there and starting to get notice on Amazon and via my website.

Here are some samples on my project planning for this week. Only 20+ things with different priorities and management for each. I cross things off once they are done and move on. Lately, I had been moving on a lot of initiatives - such as working on becoming certified as a woman owned business in NYC. I have a project plan for that - with steps and sub-steps to complete on the way.

How do you stay motivated and focused? For me I tend to think I am motivated and focused while continuing all of the fun things I am doing - especially preparing for the upcoming Spring break and having to entertain a bunch of kids who will be off from school. I wonder how much I can get done during those weeks - that will be a true testament to how motivated and focused I am when I host a play-date or four over that break.

I have noticed over the last few weeks a large increase in my web traffic and my conversion rates. This is awesome! First of all, anyone who visits my site is awesome because I feel like I am “teaching” you something about careers, being entrepreneurial, university advice and more. I had so much content to share that is how I wound up with two books self-published and available on Amazon this February.PRWeb Results:I wanted to revisit the use of PRWeb and share my thoughts on the service. I mentioned this was an investment for me – spending $259 to send a press release was important to me and my business. I have written and shared press releases before within my social media but I thought that using this service could boost the publicity and help me launch the fact that I am now a published author.

For my unique market (Staten Island and the surrounding areas), having published books, in addition to this fairly popular 5-day a week blog is so important to building my reputation, my clients and my partnerships. My dream is to build this business into providing seminars, training, speaking engagements and more for both local schools and local businesses in addition to continuing to help people one on one for their next steps.

I do think using this PRWeb service gave me a boost in the media and a potential for long-term effects. According to my dashboard, the headline of my press release has over 64k "impressions" and the full thing was read over 2k times. I did get some quick responses from some key people who I had not heard back from before when they were sent the Press Release by me. (Read my PRWeb Press Release Here !)

I am considering using it again but I will update here first.

Entrepreneurial Plan:I have a plan and I am moving towards it quickly. Do not be surprised when books 2 of the Entrepreneur-ING and College Readiness series publish within the next few months. I will continue to build on my lessons and sharing via this blog but I do intend to potentially change my editorial calendar to allow for more time to write my books.

Recently, I have had an uptick in meetings and sometimes I think I am being asked to attend a meeting so that I can be sold something like a membership (which is worthwhile on its own but definitely not as nice as client meetings) and instrad I have surprisingly found that people are meeting with me instead to ask me to speak at their organization’s events or to present potential RFPs for my company to answer or potential partnerships for me to develop, explore and more. I have also had meetings with some local business support services like the SBDC (Small Business Development Center) and SCORE. At these meetings, I have been given tons of great advice and lots of to do items to add to my list.

As a career Project Manager/ PMP (Project Management Professional certified by the Project Management Institute), I tend to do well with multiple tasks, projects and ideas. This is how I was able to write and publish two books in 6-8 weeks and continue on my other tasks such as teaching at CSI, teaching at Board of Ed and having, you know, a life… (it is still a life if I am asleep by 9pm, right?)

Also at one of these meetings, I was given some great feedback. I was told my writing style is engaging and informative and that I keep referencing that I am “new” to this or that I am “learning” – I was told to own the fact that I am positioned to be an “expert” and that my knowledge and background is speaking for itself with each piece of content and learning and publication I share and create. Wow, that felt so great and so heavy, at the same time!

I have lots of exciting stuff planned for this week still. I will be representing my company the night of 3/2 (look for an update on this post) at a Wagner College Speed Networking Event. I have received a bulk order of my first book so I will be giving away some copies of my book and potentially selling them in person at other events. On 3/2, I should receive the first printed copies of my College Readiness book so look for posts on that, too!​I published that second book without a lot of fanfare, yet. I will be sharing more about that book and why it is the BEST thing you could buy for your 8th grade graduate, your high school student or graduate and your college student, too!

What do you think about the fact that I am positioning myself to be an “expert” in college, career readiness and execution of entrepreneurship and more? Are you interested in reading my books? Check them out here: Lisa Vento Nielsen Amazon Author Page.Happy Hunting!

This blog becomes a place for me to promote my business through sharing my ideas and more. I thought I would have today's post be about how I make decisions regarding expanding my business.

I have been asked a few times if I can provide tutoring and I am toying with the idea of adding it to my business plan. I am knowledgeable in many subjects and, in my opinion, a good teacher. I can take pretty much any subject and make it interesting and easy to remember/learn.

As I am concurrently working on getting certified in math grades 7-12 as I run my business, teach on the college level and run my personal life, I could move into tutoring math at the bare minimum in levels 7-12 and then I could also, theoretically, tutor any college subject but it becomes a numbers game. If the going rate for tutoring is between $40-60/hour, where do I find the hours? Also, does it economically even make sense if that time pulls me away from my other adventures (such as this business).

Starting this Spring, I will be teaching at College of Staten Island Mondays and Wednesdays during the day and Thursday evenings. I also will still be teaching K-12 on Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays along with running my coursework at Wagner College Office for Lifelong Learning as well as my upcoming Spring Seminars. Oh and I will still be an entrepreneur running this business. And a mom with a family to take care of, as well.

There are times when expansion makes sense and fitting new products into my wheel-well of offerings can be doable but this entrepreneur things it is not the right time. What do you think? Happy hunting!

Fast Company has a great article about the top 5 time management mistakes that are made by the best of us.
As a former Project Manager (and Project Management Professional - PMP - certificate holder since 2004), the one that stood out to me the most is that we underestimate the amount of time something will take to get done. When you are managing a multi-million dollar project or even a smaller project, time estimates are all you have to go on when you schedule out your timeline. If you have incorrect estimates that will lead to your project being off schedule therefore not being run successfully.

The article has some great tips - such as spending ten minutes to plan out your day can actually save an hour in execution time. That is interesting as someone who loves to plan and make notes and schedules, it can actually help me work more effectively. That being said, in a busy day taking those ten minutes can be a luxury you just do not have.

Do you make daily to do lists? Or weekly? And do you prioritize your tasks? What do you think about planning each day?
Let me know in the comment below.